Narrative Lost Chapter 7, a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Going to the cafeteria, where word had spread that a late afternoon meeting was being held, felt like walking to the gallows to Tsumugi Shirogane.

They'd tied up Korekiyo, but Tsumugi made sure to keep the knife on-hand, ready to cut the boy's throat if he gave her a reason to.

All of the characters were clearly curious why Tsumugi, who most of them hadn't seen since the show had been cancelled, was there for the meeting. The obvious restraints holding Korekiyo back also caught their attention, but aside from a few comments thrown out by the tiny narcissist, people were happy to let Kaede explain things to them.

Sitting through that entire explanation was like sitting at her own murder trial, but one where all the jurors had been the next targets for the killer.

Sometimes it looked like they didn't believe what they were hearing because they didn't think Tsumugi was capable of being the Mastermind (like Kaito, her lovable idiot character), sometimes it looked like they were annoyed at being tricked (like Kokichi, and oh how good did it feel to see that bastard irate), and sometimes they looked like they were waiting for a chance to hand Tsumugi an apple with a razor blade inside (who knew Angie could have that much hate in her eyes).

"So..." Kaede said, as she finished telling the whole tale, "...any questions?"

There were quite a few. All of which Tsumugi was ready to answer, since she was a dead woman anyway.

"There's no way she's the Mastermind! Quit screwin' around!" Kaito shouted.

"I am the Mastermind."

Martial Arts Lesbian was next. "Someone as pretty as her could be a bad guy!"

"I'm not a 'bad guy'. I'm just a writer doing what she loves."

"Mwahahahaha~! Oh please, Tsumugi. From one evil genius to another, don't pretend you're just 'a writer'. Humility doesn't suit you!" The half pint.

"Being a colossal tool suits you perfectly, as usual."

"That's all fuckin' bullshit! There's no way some virgin geek could make someone as awesome as me!" The fetish character.

"You have the thinnest file of anyone here."

Gonta. "Gonta not want to believe this! Tsumugi is Gonta's friend!"

"I've literally talked to you twice."

"Hrmm...thought I would've gotten better at picking out sociopaths from my time in the clink...though if you're telling the truth, that never happened." Ryoma.

"It didn't. Which should be a relief, right?"

The religious nut. "Atua tells me that you are lying! Do not worry, Tsumugi, I'm sure if you make enough donations to Atua, he will forgive you for this!"

"Atua doesn't exist and you're a cult leader."

"Are you really saying that the Inner Voice I was hearing before was merely people telling me what to do over the internet?" asked the robot.

"Yes."

"I assume this means that my entire sense of self as a maid was fabricated to satisfy the pleasures of the audience?" Ah, the one who would do whatever she was told. She had such a good motive, it was too bad it would never be used.

"Oh, for sure. The image boards loved the sneak previews when they showed you as the Ultimate Maid."

The survivor. "Huh. So I already won one of these?"

"You did. You were the Ultimate Adventurer."

"..."

It looked like Shuichi and Himiko had nothing to ask, but Maki was looking at Tsumugi with an unrestrained killing intent, one that made others back away from her.

"...what makes you think you're going to just walk away? After everything you've told us that you've done?"

"Maki, no! Tsumugi was jus-"

"It's fine, Kaede. I'm glad she asked." It made it easier to bring up her trump card. Bringing out her Monopad, Tsumugi explained. "I had to set up some insurance policy, after all. And it's one that you especially wouldn't want to be set off, Maki."

There was no reply for that from the Ultimate Assassin, except a narrowing of her eyes.

The detective looked at Tsumugi seriously, and was the one to ask, "What kind of insurance policy?"

Tsumugi smiled, but the expression was devoid of any kind of warmth. "I have here on my Monopad all of your character files." She paused, but what she was saying didn't seem to sink in. With a sigh, Tsumugi elaborated. "It's what we used to make all of you. Every memory from before this Killing Game started, your entire childhood, your families, everything that makes you who you are, are in those files."

That got their attention. "What?!" the magician shouted, a bit out of character for the normally laconic character. Was there something embarrassing in her file? Tsumugi honestly forgot, it was so boring. "E-everything?!"

"Everything." Now almost all of them looked like they were ready to kill her. Which was why she knew to hurry with the exposition. "I've hacked the Body Discovery Announcement system. Normally, when a body is discovered, everyone is sent a Monokuma file after a while. I have a say in what gets sent out, as the Mastermind, so if I die you won't be sent the details of my death..."

Pushing up her glasses with one finger, feeling every inch the evil genius she'd entered the competition to end up playing, Tsumugi finished, "...you'll all be sent everyone's character files!"

For just a second, silence reigned, only broken when one of the potential protagonists spoke up.

"So if we die," little mister 'I have anxiety, please love me piano girl' said, "then we all lose any privacy or anonymity with each other."

Tsumugi shrugged. "Yeah, that's about it."

She watched them look at each other, suspicion obvious in some of their gazes. Now, not only would most of them not want to kill her, in fear of their entire lives being made available to everyone else, but they'd want to stop her from dying too.

Of course, there was a loophole, one she felt like at least Shuichi or Kokichi would figure out: for the Body Discovery Announcement to go off, she had to be found by three or more people. If they could find some way to dispose of her body in a way that would lead to Tsumugi never being found, then no worries for them.

"Listen, everyone!" Kaede called out, bringing everyone's attention back to her. Her voice was ringing with that charismatic leadership that did make Tsumugi swoon a little. "Tsumugi isn't the person we should be blaming for all of this! She's just a writer, someone who wanted to be on the show! She isn't responsible for our fates, and now that the show is cancelled, she's as stuck down here as we are!"

A warm feeling spread through Tsumugi's chest. Kaede was defending her...that was nice. Foolish, in her situation, but nice.

"Kehehe, do you not think tha-"

"Shut up, nutjob!" The inventor interrupted him, and for the first time, Tsumugi was thankful to the bimbo. "Okay, so even if we buy this shit about 'Dongobongo' or whatever, how the fuck are we gettin' out of here?!"

The conversation moved in that direction, which Tsumugi was thankful for. She chimed in occasionally, providing what details she knew about the location of the set they were in, but held her tongue on the more obvious issue.

Even if they got out, so what? They're all fictional characters. It would be no time at all before they were scooped up and put into the system, another collection of actors ready for new roles for the right show.

But there was no point telling them that. After all, there was no way they were getting outside in the first place.

Before Tsumugi knew it, the meeting was over and the room emptied, leaving just Kaede and her.

"So..." Kaede said, looking a little awkward. "Um...are you okay?"

The question confused Tsumugi. "Yes?" Was there some reason she wasn't supposed to be?

The beautiful pianist blinked, and then asked, "Well...you were attacked by Korekiyo, with a knife? And then Maki seemed really mad at you, and now everyone knows about your secret?"

Tsumugi shrugged, though the topic did make a thrum of fear pulse through her again. But it was a useless emotion in this circumstance. "There's nothing I can do about it now. They know. Either my plan works, and I survive, or it doesn't, and I die. I knew the risks when I told you the truth."

"Thanks for that."